


Encounter in Cardiff

by travels_in_time



Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-10
Updated: 2010-10-10
Packaged: 2017-10-12 14:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/125773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/travels_in_time/pseuds/travels_in_time
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone in Cardiff has sent Professional Staffing Services an unusual package.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Encounter in Cardiff

"Donna Noble, Professional Staffing Services. I'd like to speak to whoever's in charge."

The young man behind the desk had risen, staring at her, as she'd approached his desk. Now he took the card she handed him and glanced down at it. "Yes, ma'am. If you'd like to..." He nodded at the chairs.

She smiled at him. "I'm fine, thanks." She turned and appraised the office as he picked up the phone on his desk. Rather shabby-looking place, nothing like the white modernity of her office. Of course, she didn't spend much time actually doing office work. She'd bet that these people, whoever they were, didn't either.

"Sir? There's a Ms. Donna Noble here to see you. Would you like me to...yes, sir." He put the phone down. "He says he'll be up immediately."

 _Up._ She made a mental note of that. If the main offices were underground, this could possibly be quite a large organization. "So, Mr--" she glanced on his desk for a nameplate, but there wasn't one.

"Jones. Ianto Jones." He leaned over the desk to stretch a hand out to her, and she shook it. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Ms. Noble."

He sounded like he actually meant it. She studied him curiously. "Are you the one who sent the package?"

He ducked his head. "You'd better wait and talk to our director."

The old "I'm just the office clerk, I know nothing," routine. She knew that one. She cocked one eyebrow at him and turned as she heard a section of wall behind her begin to move.

A man in a long bluish-grey coat stepped through. Donna gave him a once-over as the wall closed again. Not bad, not bad at all; even the worried look he wore was attractive. But that wasn't what she was here for.

"Donna Noble, Professional Staffing Services. Are you in charge here?"

He took her hand and smiled at her. The worry lines smoothed out and the view got even better. "Well, that's always debatable, isn't it, Ianto?"

She glanced at Mr. Jones, who was allowing himself a very small smile. _Hmm._

"Captain Jack Harkness," he introduced himself. "What can I do for you, Ms. Noble?"

"I'd like to know why you sent a box of lipsticks to my office. Well, they look like lipsticks. What are they, really? You open them up, it's like a box of kittens all purring away, the noise they make."

"Why would you think that we had anything to do with this...box of lipsticks?" Captain Harkness was frowning again, this time at Mr. Jones.

She smirked at him. "Even when you send packages anonymously, Captain, someone has to pick them up and drop them off. And oddly enough, even delivery services need temps. So why don't you just tell me what they are, and what they're for."

Now Captain Harkness was glaring at Mr. Jones, who was also smirking. It was polite, but it was definitely a smirk. "There are instructions on the disc in the box."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, I know that. I've got two of the girls working on it right now, and as soon as they have the basics down they're going to train the rest. Scanners, right? They can gather all sorts of information."

"Among other things." Captain Harkness nodded. "They can also alter the vibrational frequency of certain objects. There are several uses, but they do come in very handy for unlocking doors. "

"And file cabinets?" Donna suggested. He grinned at her. He really did have the most incredible smile, and she couldn't help smiling back.

"Yes, exactly."

But now she was thinking of what else he'd said. "Altering the vibrational frequency of objects--that could be used as a weapon, couldn't it?"

The grin was wiped off immediately. "Under certain circumstances, yes. But that's not what--it's not intended--"

"No, I know," she said quickly. "We're not looking to hurt anyone. But I think it'll be safer all round if I know exactly what I'm dealing with. Get into all sorts of trouble otherwise, right?"

He was looking a little calmer, she noted. Time to press for more details. "So, Captain Harkness--"

"Jack, please," he said easily. "Our organization here--"

The outside door swung open, and a young black woman burst in. "Ianto, you would not _believe_ what I found in that dumpster--oh!"

She stopped short as she spotted Donna, and her hands went up to cover her mouth. Her eyes went immediately to Jack, who was moving to her side protectively.

"Martha Jones," he said over his shoulder to Donna. "One of my operatives. Martha, this is Donna Noble. She's here about the package that we sent. It's all right, I'll handle it."

Martha nodded jerkily. "Pleased--pleased to meet you, Ms. Noble." She raised wide eyes to meet Donna's for just one moment, and swallowed. "I have to--excuse me." She bolted behind the beaded curtain, leaving it swinging and clanging behind her.

Donna stared after her. "Is she all right?" The girl had looked absolutely terrified.

"Very shy, our Martha." Captain Harkness--Jack--crooked his arm, offering his elbow to her. "Why don't we give her some space? We can talk outside."

She took his arm and they stepped out, strolling slowly up the walk.

"So, Jack. You've sent me a box of scanners disguised as lipsticks. I can see where they'll come in very handy for my girls, although what Will and Bertie are going to do with them I don't want to know. The point is, why? I run a temping service."

He nodded. "Uh-huh. A temping service which sometimes needs to break into locked file cabinets. And may occasionally need weapons." He looked down at her, smiling again. "We've investigated you, Ms. Noble. Your temps are the best in the business, and I don't mean typing and filing."

"Call me Donna," she said automatically. "Who's investigated me? Why?"

He hesitated. "My team," he said carefully. "We're--in a way, we're in the same business as you are."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you still don't mean typing and filing."

Jack shook his head, looking around, and then stopped and lowered his voice. "Aliens. We protect the Earth from aliens." He chuckled. "Well, mostly Cardiff. But occasionally the Earth."

He saw her staring, and sobered. "We found out what you were doing, and investigated. It's a good idea to keep track of who's doing what, so there's no unnecessary overlap." He looked earnestly at her. "I have to say that we were very impressed with your organization. It's a brilliant idea."

She tossed her head. "Just came to me one day, after I found out that there really are aliens. Everybody's got to have secretaries, right? And the secretaries in any office are the ones who know where the bodies are buried. Or, in our cases, where the spaceships are parked."

Jack laughed. "Exactly. Anyway, a friend of mine has one of these sonic devices disguised as a lipstick, and I thought it would be a good idea for your operatives." He reached in his pocket and brought out a metallic-looking rod. "If Will and Bertie aren't the lipstick types, I can have a couple made in screwdriver format instead."

She stared at the device in his hand. "It's a...sonic...screwdriver?" Her voice seemed to be coming from a long way away suddenly. Everything was going blurry; Jack was saying something urgently, but she couldn't make out the words.

"Donna. Can you hear me? You're Donna Noble, you run a temp service. Donna, listen to me!"

She blinked. Jack was holding her arms, searching her eyes desperately. "Are you all right?"

"'m fine," she mumbled. "I--that thing you had, what was it?" She looked down at his hands, but there was no sign of it.

"It's nothing, it doesn't matter," Jack said, his voice rough. "We'll figure out something for your boys." He slung an arm around her as they began walking again, pulling her close. At any other time she'd have objected to the familiarity, but she was still shaky.

"Should've had something to eat before I came, I suppose," she said, trying to laugh. "Don't know what that was."

Jack's arm tightened. "Don't worry about it. You're fine. You're okay." He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself as much as her.

She shook herself, trying to organize her thoughts. "So you know what we do, and you wanted to help."

"We defenders of the Earth have to stick together." Jack smiled at her. "I thought it was the least we could do."

"You keep saying 'we'. Who exactly are you? Your group, what is it?" She glanced at his coat. "Something military?"

He took a deep breath. "I can't tell you anything about it." He swung her around, grabbing her arms again, as she drew breath indignantly. "Donna, I _can't._ Don't ask me to. You have no idea how dangerous this is."

"So much for sticking together." She shook herself loose from him and straightened up. "I know dangerous, army boy. My people have faced down things with tentacles that want to take over the world, and they've only had staplers and pencil cups to defend themselves with. We're not playing out there, and I don't have time for you to start some secret agent spy game."

"Donna, please." Jack followed her as she turned away, seeing for the first time where they were. The train station. He'd brought her back to the train station. "If I could, I would, I promise you that. You don't--you have no idea how much--we've watched your group, we've seen what you've done, we've been so proud of what you've accomplished. I only wanted to help."

"Well, you did. We have the lipsticks. And thanks. Now you can stick me on the train and send me right back where I belong, with the secretaries and the coffee-boys, and you lot can fight the big scary monsters with your big military guns."

"Donna," he said quietly, and then somehow--she didn't know how, she certainly hadn't meant to let him--he was hugging her, holding her tightly. "Donna, your secretaries and coffee-boys stopped the Rodarians from staging a rather hostile takeover of three of the top five companies in London. You stopped the Camponotus migration. You rescued the CEO of Tapeme when he'd been kidnapped and held for ransom. You're doing a wonderful job, and I'm--I'm only trying to protect you so that you can keep doing that job."

She really should have been walking away from him again, but his coat was so warm. She sniffed. "I have very good people."

"And your people have good leadership." He stepped back a little way from her, not letting her go, looking at her intently. "I'm so proud of what you've done, Donna."

"You keep saying that." She did twist away then; his open sincerity made her uncomfortable.

He shrugged, giving her a half-smile. "It's true. I want you to know that, so you'll believe me when I say that there are a lot of things I can't tell you. Not because I don't trust you, and not because I don't respect you. Only because I have orders that come from the very top, and I have to follow them."

She frowned at him. "The very top of what, army boy?"

He shook his head and turned back towards the train station. "It's time for you to go. It probably wasn't a good idea for you to come here, but I'm glad you did." He steered her towards the entrance to the station. "Don't do it again, though."

"Oi!" she protested. "I'll go where I like!"

He grinned ruefully at her. "Yes, I know. All right, then--for me, Donna. Will you stay away from Cardiff for me?"

She eyed him up and down. "Have you _seen_ yourself? For you I'd move to Wales and herd sheep, and you want me to stay away?"

That made him laugh out loud. "Donna Noble, you are priceless. Get on the train, go home, protect London from the invading hordes."

She rolled her eyes. "I s'pose that's a 'no' on me moving to Wales, then."

She looked at the ticket window, but Jack put a hand on her arm. "Let me see your mobile."

She pulled it out and handed it to him, watching as he punched in a series of numbers and gave it back to her. "There. I've keyed in my number. If you ever need me, you call." He tapped some kind of device strapped around his wrist. "This'll let me know, wherever I am." He looked up, caught her eyes. "I mean it. Anything at all that you need, you just say the word."

"Jack," she said experimentally, and he rolled his eyes at her.

"You don't need me. You've got your girls. And Will and Bertie. But if you ever do...just call."

"I will," she promised, and before he could turn away she caught him in another hug.

"What was that for?" he asked as she stepped back.

She shrugged. "Dunno. Just felt like it." She smiled at him. "I'll see you around, Jack."

She didn't look back as she headed for the ticket window, but she knew somehow that he was watching her, making sure that she got onto the train all right, making sure that she was safe. And oddly enough, she didn't really mind.


End file.
